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Author: Fernando Fernandez

Fun summer activities for kids

Fun kids activities for an unforgettable summer

You can almost hear the kids’ laughter in the distance: summer vacation is coming, and that means kids with lots of free time who can’t wait to have fun. A great way to spend time with them is by doing activities that harness their creativity through play. Making ice pops, playing dress-up, going on treasure hunts, having water fights and doing arts and crafts are all super fun summer activities for kids. Today we want to suggest an activity that is sure to be a hit: making a kite.

Making a kite and flying it is our favorite summer activity for kids

When kids create things with their hands, they concentrate and get their creative juices flowing, not to mention that they have a blast. Plus, they are amazed and thrilled when they realize they can use their creation. Making a kite is a fantastic idea because they can pick a variety of colors ––which really draws them in–– and the activity doesn’t stop there: they have hours of fun flying their kite. That’s why it’s one of our favorite summer activities for kids.

To make a kite, you’ll need:

Wooden dowels

Colored tissue paper

11 yards of string

Round-tip scissors

Pencil

Ruler

Utility knife

Glue, ideally silicone

First, cut the dowels to build the kite’s structure. One of them should measure 27.5 inches and the other 15.7 inches. Place the shorter dowel on top of the longer dowel to make a cross. It doesn’t have to be exactly centered. It’s better to place it 9.8 inches from one end. Glue it in place with the silicone glue. When it is dry, wrap the joint with string to secure the structure. Using the utility knife, notch the ends of the dowels and place string in those notches, joining each end of the sticks to form a diamond.

The kite’s structure is ready. Now all that’s left to do is cut the colored tissue paper to a size larger than the diamond so it can be folded in two and glued to itself, trapping the string in the fold. Lastly, glue some strips of colored tissue paper to it as well as the remaining length of string so it will be ready to fly later.

It’s a great activity for spending time with the kids. It will become one of your and your kids’ favorite summer activities. Because making things together and then testing them in the great outdoors can create the happiest family moments, moments you’ll remember forever.

The best way to use white vinegar in your dishes

Uses for white vinegar in the kitchen

White vinegar is used in a wide variety of recipes, for example, for pickling and for making marinades. Today I’ll tell you how to use white vinegar in sauces to go with your favorite dishes. Do you know what chimichurri sauce is? After today, you won’t be able to get enough of this delicious sauce.

Using vinegar to make sauces

Chimichurri sauce comes from Argentina and tastes excellent with grilled meat. It’s easy to make and has a delightful mix of flavors. Vinegar is the heart and soul of this recipe. The ingredients required are:

  • 6 ½ cups parsley leaves
  • One tablespoon dried oregano
  • 4 gloves of garlic
  • 2 chili peppers— if you like your food spicy
  • One tablespoon of paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • One teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup Carbonell white vinegar
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1/2 cup warm water

First, chop the parsley leaves, garlic and chilies as finely as possible. Then, add the warm water and mix to soak all the ingredients. After doing this, add the pepper, salt and paprika. Mix again. Finally, add the vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix well and pour the sauce into a glass container. Leave it to macerate overnight. Enjoy it the following day!

This delicious sauce can be used to marinate chicken, meat and even fish before cooking. Or it can also be used to accompany cooked dishes.

Using vinegar is very healthy and it can be added to a variety of sauces––good examples include mayonnaise and sweet-and-sour sauce. But I chose this recipe because I’m sure that when you try chimichurri sauce with your favorite dishes, it will change your life.

Sunday lunches with the family and how to make it through them with style

A Sunday lunch with the family that keeps everybody happy

It’s a great feeling when the end of the week draws near. But as the weekend pass, it becomes harder and harder to face the looming fact of Sunday, especially when you’re hosting

Sunday lunch with the family. Do you want everybody to enjoy their time together?

A tip for surviving the arrival of the family

My top tip is to always have a jar of Carbonell olives in the pantry. That way, you have something to offer if the family shows up hungry but you still haven’t finished making lunch. As I’m sure you’ll agree, olives are a delicacy that never fails. Your family will enjoy their delicious taste, but olives also have properties that will curb their appetite. This means you won’t have to make huge amounts of food for the meal – it’s win-win.

A Sunday staple

If you have time on Sunday morning and feel like cooking, make the go-to Sunday meal, paella. It’s sure to be a hit. But if it isn’t, grill up a few beef steaks and serve them with a pasta salad with tomatoes, eggs, lettuce, cucumber and tuna, all dressed with a dash of olive oil and vinegar. It’s the perfect combination to keep your family happy without having to spend the whole morning in the kitchen.

A healthy and delicious meal is a must for any pleasant and enjoyable Sunday lunch with the family. It’s a simple idea that will help you enjoy your Sunday to the fullest. Extra virgin olive oil and olives certainly save the day at my house every Sunday.

*Source: Thelancet.com

How to reduce high cholesterol with olive oil

How to reduce high cholesterol

You can have high cholesterol for a variety of reasons: bad eating habits, not enough physical exercise, or even genetics. Whatever the reason, high cholesterol can lead to serious heart disease if left untreated. We have decided to dedicate today’s post to this so that you can learn how to reduce your cholesterol in the simplest way: with olive oil.

Recommended amount of olive oil and other tips for how to lower your cholesterol

How do you lower your cholesterol with extra virgin olive oil? Eat two or three tablespoons of olive oil a day. With this ideal amount for your body, you will quickly notice a change in your physical and emotional wellbeing. But it’s important that you also take other steps to speed up the process of lowering your cholesterol, like doing aerobic exercise and eating a healthy, balanced diet.

Extra virgin olive oil and the fight against cholesterol

It is important to know that there are two types of cholesterol. By default, we call cholesterol that is harmful to our health “high cholesterol.” This type of cholesterol gradually accumulates on the walls of our arteries and makes it harder and harder for blood to flow throughout our body. This means our cells don’t receive enough nutrients and oxygen. This very serious condition can cause heart disease and strokes, among other things, so it is very important to know how to reduce high cholesterol.

But there’s another type of cholesterol that’s helpful and that happens to be the antidote to the harmful cholesterol. It is found in the monounsaturated fatty acids in natural vegetable fats like extra virgin olive oil. This harmless cholesterol works to reduce the levels of bad cholesterol and, as a result, helps balance out blood pressure, returning blood circulation to healthy levels. Eating extra virgin olive oil is the easiest and most enjoyable way to lower your cholesterol.

*Source: NCBI

Does olive oil have natural antioxidants?

Extra-virgin olive oil is known as the philosopher’s stone of the Mediterranean diet, and for good reason. This liquid gold, pure and fragrant, is the heart and soul of all dishes and full of health benefits. But does olive oil have natural antioxidants? The answer is yes.

What are natural antioxidants?

They are chemical compounds that the human body produces to get rid of substances that damage your health. Foods high in antioxidants, such as extra virgin olive oil, greatly lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, cholesterol…

According to nutritional experts, natural antioxidants can even lower the risk of cancer and slow the aging of our bodies and skin. That’s why it’s recommended that all diets include foods like extra virgin olive oil.

What are the benefits of eating olive oil?

Extra virgin olive oil is highly nutritious. It is made up of monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid, vitamin E and polyphenols. These compounds are rich in natural antioxidants, making them an essential source of nutrients.

If you want a healthy and balanced diet in true Mediterranean style, add extra-virgin olive oil every day to your diet, and you will experience the power of its antioxidants.

*Source: Heart.org

A healthy and balanced Mediterranean diet Menu

Spring has sprung! And the good weather brings with it an urge to care of ourselves and get into a healthy groove. We’re paying more attention to how often we exercise, and we’re also focused on eating healthier. So today we’re going to tell you about the ideal Mediterranean diet menu.

What is the Mediterranean diet?

When we talk about Mediterranean food, we’re referring to the whole group of healthy, tasty, and varied foods eaten in Mediterranean countries (Spain, Italy, Greece…). But it’s more than a diet. It’s a lifestyle. It’s that pleasant weather, that sea breeze… it’s being active and buying products from the land. It’s also about leaving the sedentary life behind and not eating too many carbohydrates or saturated fats.

What’s in a Mediterranean diet Menu?

One of the main ingredients is extra virgin olive oil. It is an essential source of vitamin E and, thanks to its oleic acid and plant-based fats, it reduces the risk of heart disease. Extra virgin olive oil can be used to cook or make dressings, and its high antioxidant content makes us healthier inside and out.

But beyond olive oil, there are many foods that are fundamental to your Mediterranean diet menu: greens, fruits, vegetables, oily fish, grains, dairy, legumes… all foods high in vitamin and minerals, perfect for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Now that you know the ingredients that should be on the menu for a healthy Mediterranean diet, it’s time to head to your favorite store. Bring home the highest-quality and most flavorful ingredients, and enjoy all the vitality they bring your body.

*Source: Thelancet.com

How is olive oil made in Spain?

How lovely Spain is, and how we relish its land and seasons!

It is precisely this pairing of climate and countryside that have made it the world’s top olive oil producer. Would you like a step-by-step breakdown of how olive oil is made in Spain? Then read on.

Growing the olives.

Although Spain as a country produces olive oil, the areas of Extremadura and Andalusia are particular and have the perfect conditions for growing olives.Together, they account a 50% of the output of this exquisite liquid (source: COI published in November 2018 from the harvest 2016/17).

Harvesting.

In Spain, the season for picking olives is from October through January. But importantly, the quality of the olive oil varies based on when the olives are harvested. Those picked at the beginning of the season are used to make extra virgin olive oil, which is higher quality than the other types of oil.

Grinding.

The olives are then brought to an oil mill, where the grinding process begins. The mill crushes the whole olives with their pits, yielding a pulp that is then mixed to make it more uniform and easier to extract the final oil.

Extraction.

At this point, the air will begin to be filled with the aromas of the oil. Can you smell them? It is time to extract the final product. The pulp of ground olives is passed through a press and then a decanter, which centrifuges the product to turn it into the oil we all know and love.

And voilà! We can now enjoy our favorite olive oil, with its unique flavor and unmistakable aromas. And it’s all thanks to the olive oil production process done in Spain. Would you like a taste of the end result?

Organic olive oil

More and more people seek to lead a life that is both healthy and good for the environment, with so many choosing to buy organic products. Organic olive oil is starting to revolutionize the market. Do you want to know why?

Characteristics of organic olive oil.

First and foremost, the source of this type of oil is olives that were grown in an ecologically friendly way, without using pesticides. During transportation, the olives cannot come into contact with any non-ecological products. In other words, they cannot be cross-contaminated.

The same is true for the grinding process at the oil mills, as well as the oil tasting and classification stages. This process should not be affected by pesticides or extraneous chemical substances.

These steps ensure an olive oil made from 100% organic olives certified with the seal of authenticity, meeting the requirements of European regulations.

Benefits of organic olive oil.

Flavor. Since the oil is 100% natural, you can enjoy each and every aroma and the range of sensations on your palate.

It is also a healthier oil since it is free of chemicals. Rich in oleic acid, it is an essential source of monounsaturated fats, which have many benefits for our body.

Our recommendation?

If you want enjoy and savor a high-quality Organic extra virgin olive oil, we suggest you try Carbonell Extra Virgin, with a flavor that will surprise you.

The best olive varieties according to the experts

What would our leisurely afternoons spent on terraces be without a few tasty olives to nibble on? But we don’t want just any type of olive. We only want the best! If you too are looking for the best olive varieties, you’ve come to the right place.

Manzanilla green olives.

The most flavorful come from Seville, in southern Spain. They are picked just before they are perfectly ripe, and have mellow aromas and a slight hint of bitterness in their flavor. This type of olive variety is perfect for salads and cold dishes.

Hojiblanca black olives.

If they don’t look like olives fresh from the tree, that’s because they aren’t. It’s what gives them that special touch that makes them so delicious. These olives are riper, giving them a more intense flavor.

Stuffed olives.

Straight from the groves of Andalusia, stuffed olives make a perfect appetizer. There are many types of stuffed olives, but our favorite fillings are pimiento peppers, anchovies, or —and why not?— serrano ham (yes, that quintessential Spanish ham).

There are different types within each olive variety, depending on origin or ripeness. But one thing is clear, we love olives in all their forms. Have you tried them yet? They’ll blow you away!